


Wishful Thinking

by Shini



Category: Free!
Genre: A bit slow build, Angst, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, SouMako - Freeform, college days
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 07:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2301851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shini/pseuds/Shini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haru and Rin decided to pursue their swimming which left their respective best friends, although very happy for them, kinda got lost in the picture.</p><p>In just six months after their high school graduation, everything seemed to be all-too normal now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wishful Thinking

**Author's Note:**

> You will have a lot of questions but I hope you read on. :)
> 
> Supposed to be a short fic but grew a life of it's own.
> 
> Still don't know what i'm doing but I hope you enjoy! :D
> 
> / blah blah / --> thoughts

The doorbell chimed.

Suddenly, two pairs of eyes shined in excitement.

The little boy and girl looked at each other donning big smiles on their faces.

"He's here!" they exclaimed enthusiastically. They hurriedly sat up and bounded out of their Onii-chan's bedroom running down the stairs to greet their all too familiar visitor.

"Hey! Slow down you two!" Makoto called out to them amusedly; collecting all the paper and crayons that were strewn on top of his bed. "Sorry Onii-chan! Will pick those up later!" Ran said hurriedly and ran to catch up with Ren.

"He's here! He's here!" they chanted as they ran waving their arms up in the air. As they gingerly opened the door, they were greeted by their visitor with a smile. "Hey, how are my favorite twins doing?"

"Sou-niichan!!!" Ren and Ran bounced up to Sousuke hugging him tightly. Each of them took one of his hands and pulled him inside. He was then bombarded by so many inquiries at once. "Come in Sou-niichan!!!" "What took you so long?" "Is Sou-niichan really gonna teach us today?" "We're gonna make sandwiches for you later!" "What songs are we gonna play?" As they neared the living room, they suddenly stopped and looked at each other with great realization.

"We want to hear you play Sou-niichan!!!" They chimed in excitedly jumping up and down. "Okay, okay. But let me just sit first okay? Sou-niichan's a bit tired from all the walking." He placed his backpack on the floor and flopped down on the sofa; the twins on each of his side instantly.

Makoto stood arms folded and leaning on the door post looking at Sousuke and the twins as they were talking animatedly. / What a sight to see. /

In just six months after their high school graduation, everything seemed to be all-too normal now.

\-----

When Haru and Rin were scouted before graduation, it was a flurry of emotions between those two and when everything came to the height of emotion, Rin ended up sobbing and confessing to Haru. With a bit of shock and a much lengthy discussion with each other and with their friends, Haru and Rin decided to pursue their swimming. Which left their respective best friends, although very happy for them, kinda got lost in the picture.

As the day of Haru and Rin's departure to Australia arrived, everyone came to the airport to wish them good luck. To much of everyone's surprise, Haru hugged Makoto which was a happy sight to see. Everyone knew how close they are and how much support they have for each other and it's not easy to let go. Haru breathe a faint "Thank you" only Makoto could hear. Makoto smiled and hugged Haru back. "No problem Haru. You take care of yourself now. Call me anytime." They released each other from the hug and smiled.

"Don't worry Makoto," Rin, who was just behind Haru, puffed up his chest proudly. "I will be there to protect Haru." Haru and Makoto just stared at him. Makoto held both of his best friend’s shoulders at arm’s length and emphasized his words: "Be VERY CAREFUL okay?" Then they looked back at Rin again and realization dawned on him. "Hey! W-what does that mean!?" Rin fumed blushing furiously. Haru and Makoto laughed. They will miss these days for sure.

"How about you Makoto?" Haru asked, eyes looking steadily at the taller man. "What about me?" Makoto questioned with a smile. Then, suddenly, Rin perked up. "Ah! I know! Hey Sousuke!" Rin called out and waved at his best friend. Sousuke walked towards Rin; just stopping when he reached Makoto's side. "Hey, Rin, take care of yourself okay?" Sousuke smiled and ruffled Rin's hair. "Yeah, yeah, I know." Rin replied trying to evade Sousuke’s hand.

Rin stood up straight and cleared his throat like he was going to say something very important. "Sousuke," he extended his hand in front of Sousuke. "Meet Makoto." he then proceeded to move his hand to Makoto. "Makoto, this is Sousuke." then he move is hand back to Sousuke. Sousuke and Makoto were quite puzzled with their friend's action.

"But Rin, we already know each other." Makoto laughed.

They do know each other through having small talks whenever their teams meet for practice. Not much as friends but more like comfortable acquaintances. They don't really have much in common except swimming so usually their conversations always revolve around it.

"It's not just that!" protested Rin. "I know both of you are going to the same college in Tokyo. And it would be Makoto's first time there and Sousuke has stayed in Tokyo before. So..." Rin trailed off and looked at Sousuke then at Makoto and put a hand on each of their shoulder. "Take care of each other okay?"

Sousuke raised one eyebrow at Rin wondering what his friend is up to. Clearly he can take care of himself and Tachibana doesn't look like someone who needs taking care of either. Makoto smiled amusedly. "Rin, we can take care of ourselves on our own." insisted Makoto.

Rin scratched the back of his head visibly annoyed and a bit embarrassed. "Well, me and Haru are going away for a while and as your respective best friends, we won't be here and we'll surely worry about you two and..." Rin gave out a big sigh. "Just, it'll give us a big peace of mind if you'd have... someone... to be... your friend." Rin grumbled the last part shyly and Haru nodded in approval.

Makoto understood that they mean well. He laughed and looked at his dear friends. "Okay, okay." Makoto faced Sousuke and extended his hand for a handshake. "Hi! I'm Tachibana Makoto and it's a pleasure to meet you Yamazaki Sousuke." Makoto greeted with a smile. Sousuke reached out and shook Makoto's hand. "Likewise." Sousuke said with a small smile of his own.

After that, Sousuke and Makoto would sometimes hang out after school. Mostly, they'd talk about swimming and exchanged tips and new techniques and everything in-between. It has become a habit and slowly but surely, they became close friends.

/Friends./

"Onii-chan!" Makoto was snapped back to the present by the insistent tugging of Ran and Ren. "May we please do our lesson in your room?" Ran begged with her puppy eyes. "We like your room and it's very nice and comfortable." chimed in Ren. "Ours is a bit messy... b-but we promise to clean it later!" added Ran. "Pleaaaaase." they both begged.

/How can anybody resist these kids?/ Makoto smiled and roughed up Ren's hair. "Yes you may. As long as you don't make a mess of things." The twin's eyes shone brightly. "Okay, we promise! Right, Ran?" Ren looked as his twin sister who in turn, nodded eagerly “Yes. We promise!"

"Okay, now get your stuff ready so Sou-nii can teach you." Makoto ushered the twins to the second floor. "Okay!" The twins hurriedly went up the stairs to prepare. /Sou-nii?/ wondered Sousuke. That coming from Makoto made something flutter inside him which in turn made the raven-haired boy wonder more.

"Very hyper as ever." Dismissing the feeling, Sousuke looked at the twins with a knowing smile as they disappear up the stairs. "Yeah, well, you're the only one they look forward to these days." Makoto sat beside Sousuke on the sofa and stretched his arms. Sousuke raised an eyebrow. "Only them?" he teased. Makoto, stretching midway, looked at him for a moment. And when he finished stretching his arms, he flicked Sousuke's forehead with his finger. "Ow!" Wincing in pain, Sousuke closed his eyes and rubbed his injured forehead. "Yeah." Makoto looked at Sousuke, and without the slightly taller man noticing, gave a gentle smile.

In the span of 6 months, they've become really close friends. They are such stark contrast with each other that they tend to be curious of one another. They'd hang out, joke around and tease each other but nothing really serious. It's comfortable but sometimes, there is that certain glance or touch that both of them never admit. Just swaying between friendship and might be something more but neither of them acknowledging it.

"You're not as docile as you were before." grumbled Sousuke. "Well," Makoto gave a short laugh, stood up, put his hands on his hips and looked at his friend on the sofa. "I might not be as docile as you thought I was."

" Mako-niisan!!! Sou-niisan!!! We're done preparing! We can start now!" Cried Ran from upstairs.

"Never knew you could play the ukulele though. I thought you were more inclined to sports." Makoto reached out his hand to help Sousuke up. "Yeah, well," Sousuke reach out to accept Makoto's hand and stood up. "Sports is not the only thing I’m good at." Sousuke smirked, his face just a few inches away from Makoto.

Even at this close proximity, Makoto didn't flinch away; he just had that odd smile on his face which confused Sousuke. Sousuke bent down to retrieve his backpack from the floor with the neck of a red ukulele sticking out from it. Slinging it onto his back he huffed, "Well, lead the way."

\-----

"Sou-nii, it doesn't sound like the one you’re playing." Ren scrunching his face and concentrating on his blue ukulele. "You have to press the strings harder." instructed Sousuke while pressing Ren's fingers on the string. "Oh! Hey! I did it!" Ran exclaimed triumphantly playing a G chord on her green ukulele.

They were sitting in a circle in the middle of Makoto's room. This ukulele lesson thing started when Makoto talked about it with Sousuke in one of their "hang out" sessions. It was a requirement for their music subject but the lessons were just once a week and the twins wanted to learn more but having music lessons were quite expensive, and with their tight budget right now, as much as Makoto wanted them to learn, they couldn't afford it. "Hey, I could teach them you know." Sousuke said offhandedly which surprised Makoto but he was quite grateful too.

Makoto also sat in their circle sitting directly on the opposite side of Sousuke; the twins on either side of them. Watching their lesson, he can't help but notice Sousuke's ukulele. It was a soprano sized ukulele. A bit banged up with a few scratches here and there. It was red and had a bridge shaped like a shark which made Makoto smile and wonder of Sousuke's choice. It looked a bit awkward looking being small in Sousuke’s big hands but the way he played it, it seemed like he has played on it awfully a lot. Makoto stared at Sousuke's hands; his fingers moving elegantly across the strings. Admiring those fingers, it is as if he has fallen into a trance.

After almost an hour of lessons, Ran started complaining. "Ow... Sou-niichan... My fingers hurt." pouting, she showed her fingers to Sousuke. Sousuke cradled her hand on his palm and tried soothing it. "That's quite normal. It'll hurt less in no time IF you practice your lessons more. But for now, rest it a bit." Ran took her hand back and stretched it a few times. "Sou-niichan!" Ren raised his hand "What's your favorite song?" Ran, forgetting her hand, raised it also. "Yes Sou-nii! We want to hear you play it!"

Sousuke looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm... well," then he stared at Makoto and winked. Makoto, caught off guard with the gesture, had a confused look on his face. /Too cute. / Sousuke mused, looked at the twins with a smile and started playing upbeat chords. Slowly shifting his gaze to Makoto, he started singing.

"Can you hear me? I'm talking to you.  
Across the water, across the deep blue ocean.  
Under the open sky, oh my, oh baby I’m trying."

"Oooh! We know this song!" cried Ran excitedly. "Really?" asked Sousuke, surprised that these kids know such an old song. "Yup!" Ren chimed in. "Mako-niichan always plays it on the radio!" At the mention of his name, Makoto panicked and tried to cover his little brother's mouth to no avail. "And he even got it memorized!" Ran giggled at his nii-chan's failed attempt.

"Great, just great. Thank you dear siblings." Makoto covered his face with his hands in embarrassment. /Now, that's a sight I haven't seen in a long time./ Sousuke thought amused. "Sing it Mako-niichan!" Ren encouraged his older brother while tugging at his shoulder playfully. "We don't know the lyrics much but we could hum it with you." added Ran. "C'mon sing Makoto, lighten up! No need to be embarrassed." teased Sousuke still playing the chords of the song. "I'll start the song again." Sousuke cleared his throat and sang.

"Can you hear me? I'm talking to you.  
Across the water, across the deep blue ocean.  
Under the open sky, oh my, oh baby I’m trying."

With his siblings singing and humming to the tune and Sousuke's expectant gaze, Makoto had no choice. He quietly started singing.

"Boy I hear you in my dreams  
I feel your whisper across the sea  
I keep you with me in my heart  
You make it easier when life gets hard."

"C'mon Makoto, louder! Ren and Ran's humming is louder than your singing you know." Sousuke laughed. A happy, bubbly feeling slowly rose from inside Makoto. Seeing his siblings happily humming, swaying from side to side, and Sousuke laughing, made him want to sing more. /It's been so long... Well, might as well live in the moment. /

Makoto sang loudly and happily together with Sousuke and the twins. Sousuke and Makoto would occasionally look at each other smiling and silently hoping this happy feeling would last forever.

"I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend  
Lucky to have been where I have been  
Lucky to be coming home again

I'm lucky we're in love in every way  
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed  
Lucky to be coming home someday"

As the song ended, everyone clapped their hands. "Yay! That was awesome Sou-niichan! I want to learn that too!" Ren jumped and stood up. "Me too Sou-nii!" Ran got up to her feet and clapped her hands. "Maybe next time kids. You have to practice your basic chords first." Sousuke reminded them. "Okay!" said the twins at the same time.

Suddenly, Ran whispered something to Ren that made the boy stand in attention. "Ah, Sou-niichan, we have to go and do something for a while." They were fidgeting and they had conspiratory smiles on their faces. "Just stay here and wait okay? Mako-niichan will keep you company." Ran pointed at Sousuke and went downstairs to do whatever they were planning. "And don't come out until we say so!" Ren went off and closed the door; following his sister downstairs.

"Those two are always up to something." Sousuke glared playfully. "Good thing they're your siblings." Makoto gave a soft laugh. "Thank you Sousuke, for helping the twins." Makoto bowed his head in thanks. "No problem." Sousuke smiled.

Sitting crossed-legged on the floor for far too long wasn't doing anything good on Sousuke's back and shoulder so he slowly got up, sat on Makoto's bed, stretched his legs and leaned his back on the wall; lazily plucking random chords on his ukulele. Makoto followed suit sitting beside Sousuke, lifting his legs and hugging them to his chest. A comfortable silence settled between the two boys.

After a while, Sousuke broke the silence.

"I got this ukulele after Rin went to Iwatobi." Sousuke ran his fingers on the ukulele to clean it. "It was a silly thing really. I decided that I’d see Rin as a rival so I trained hard in swimming. Then one day, I got this brilliant idea to find a hobby so that I could show off to him someday. Something that was different. Something he wouldn't expect. When I went to the music store, this was the last one in stock." he laughed softly at the memory.

"But then, this shoulder injury came and in an instant, therapy and training were the only things in my mind. The ukulele lay forgotten for a few years." He looked up the ceiling while Makoto was listening intently. "Now that I am unable to swim pro and with no heavy therapy and training anymore, I get to remember how fun it is to play this thing." Sousuke looked at Makoto. "Thank you, Makoto, for making me remember." Makoto smiled yet said nothing. A heavy silence enveloped them again.

Sousuke knew this was the moment. The right time he could do this. It's now or never. A risk. A chance. Arguing with himself on how to say what he feels, he shut his brain off and just dove in. Looking at Makoto idly staring at nothing in particular and tapping his feet, Sousuke, sat crossed-legged and faced the other man.

"Makoto, Let me help you."

It was not exactly what he had in mind but that's what Sousuke blurted out from his overthinking. Makoto suddenly lifts his head up and stared quizzically at Sousuke. "Huh? What do you mean?" Sousuke closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment to force his brain to make something coherent out of the million things that he wants to say.

But Makoto beat him to it. "It's okay. I can still handle this myself." /There he goes again/ Sousuke groaned mentally. That odd smile. He can never pinpoint what it means. A smile yet it didn't suit Makoto at all. That sad broken smile of his.

Sousuke sighing in frustration, placed his ukulele on the bedside table, crawled over and faced Makoto trapping the slightly shorter man in between his bent legs and holding on to Makoto's hands which were on his knees. "Sousuke, what are you doing?!" Makoto whispered harshly in shock, trying not to shout in fear of his siblings hearing them. He tried to wiggle out but Sousuke held on to his position.

Staring directly into those uncertain green eyes, Sousuke stressed his words hoping that it could get through to Makoto. "I don't want to see you reach the point where you can no longer handle it Mako." The rare endearing nickname came out every time they're alone which made Makoto feel all tingly inside. Sousuke held on to Makoto's hand tighter and offered again pleading. "Please, let me help you."

Makoto closed his eyes, bowed his head and gripped his knees tighter. "Your visits are more than enough for the twins Sousuke, and I’m very much thankful for that. Anything more than that would be too much for a friend to do. And if you're doing this because of Rin and Haru, tell them I'm doing fine. I can handle all of this just fine."

Sousuke stared at the top of Makoto's head. He doesn't know when he started feeling this way towards the boy. Was it just friendship or possibly more? But whatever it is, he just wanted so much to ease the burden on this man's shoulders. Just wanted to help make everything better. Just wanted to see him genuinely smile again.

He slowly stroked those olive-green locks. "Mako, I’m not visiting just for the twins nor am I doing this because of Rin or Haru. I'm doing this because I want to. I'm doing this for you. As your friend, I can't stand seeing you like this. You think no one would notice?" Sousuke said, stroking his hair gently. "Mako, let me help you."

The quiet boy gave no reply. Sousuke gave out a heavy sigh "Just..." Out of frustration, Sousuke moved from his current position and scooted closer to Makoto's side. He straightened Makoto's knees, much to the surprise of the sullen boy, and embraced Makoto cradling the boy's head on his shoulder.

"When your parents died, you couldn't cry because you were the responsible big brother right? It's really not good keeping emotions bottled up inside."

\-----

It was just a week after graduation and a couple of days after Rin and Haru went to Australia. It was raining very hard that day and his parents were coming home from work. The roads were slippery and visibility was low. They were driving carefully except for the one who was driving on the opposite lane. The other car slid, hitting them on the side with so much force that it flipped their car a few times. His parents did not survive.

Rin and Haru who were overseas kept calling Makoto to check up on him but every time they do, Makoto just smiles and says he's fine. They couldn't go back even if they really wanted to so they end up begging Sousuke every day to at least be by their friend's side. Sousuke was there on the funeral of Makoto's parents. But all throughout the ordeal, Sousuke noticed that he never saw Makoto cry. He was too calm, cool and collected.

After everything was done and over, it's looked like nothing changed with Makoto at all. Makoto had to give up on Tokyo; that was a given of course. He had his siblings to take care of. It would be hard to bring them to Tokyo and he wouldn't want them to stay at their relatives just so he could go. He can never do that to them. They still have him and he'll do whatever it takes to take care of them. He also decided to do work as a part-time coach at Iwatobi SC. Sure, his parents had savings but with Makoto just starting college and with the twins going to school, not to mention their basic expenses, the extra income would really do them much good.

But Sousuke could see it. Day by day as they became closer friends, he could see that Makoto smiled less. Sometimes, he had that sad, distant look in his eyes and even at one time, Makoto, thinking that no one was looking, would lift up his head and scrunch up his face like it was suddenly too bright then he would proceed to furiously rub his eyes with his hands. He just says that something got into his eyes but Sousuke knew that the green eyed boy was on the verge of breaking down. He was just trying really hard to keep it together.

\-----

"So, now Makoto, I give you this time. Cry as much as you want. It's okay. No one will judge you here." Sousuke hugged Makoto assuringly and he felt Makoto adjust to the awkward position and hug him tighter.

"For the past 6 months, you did great for everyone else Makoto. Now, this time is all yours." Sousuke rubbed his back gently. All the pent up hurt, sadness and fear that were threatening to spill, now was tipping over because of Sousuke. His kind words fill Makoto's heart with a bittersweet feeling. Finally defeated, Makoto started to slowly sob painfully on Sousuke's shoulder. Small, silent sobs eventually turned into painful wails. Makoto pressed his mouth onto Sousuke's shoulder to muffle his crying; hands gripping tightly on Sousuke's back. Sousuke slowly rocked the distraught boy who was visibly shaking in his arms.

The last day he saw his parents, the day he was told they died, the images of their wrecked car, the heart-wrenching faces of Ran and Ren when they heard the news, giving up on Tokyo, all the work he's done, the financial problems looming in the distance, the fear of the unsure future for him and the twins and the fact that with everything happening, all he ever could do was smile and suck it up. Nowhere to run and no one to console him. He felt alone and helpless. Then, he felt someone stroking his hair.

Snapping out from all of his thoughts he now hears the silent murmuring from Sousuke. The raven-haired man was still rocking him slowly and saying comforting words to Makoto. "It will be okay. I'm here. Everything will work out just fine." The hum of his voice relaxes Makoto. He slowly calms down to occasional sniffles and leans his head on Sousuke's shoulder; facing his neck. Feeling spent from all the crying, he slowly closes his eyes and all he could hear and feel is Sousuke, with his comforting words and soothing hands seemingly making everything feel better again.

**Author's Note:**

> I was only thinking of writing a short, fluffy fic with the twins and Soumako together... and this happens.
> 
> Classic example of fluff gone wrong I think. lol!
> 
> Song is "Lucky" by Jason Mraz. Thank you for reading! :)


End file.
